Determining Peptides

Therapeutic peptides are often applied via the following routes: intramuscular (IM), intraperitoneal (IP), intravenous (IV), or inhalative. Only a few peptides are stable in the stomach (acidic plus pepsin digestion) and the intestine (trypsin digestion) after oral application. Determination in plasma is very complex, as far as selectivity is concerned, because millions of endogenous peptides and proteins can be found in plasma.

Usually, the determination of a drug in plasma starts with some questions:

• How much of that drug is applied per kg body weight

• Which route of application is used (IM, IP, IV, oral, or inhalative)

• Is anything known about the first pass effect (leading to metabolites and, therefore, lowering the parent drug concentration)

• Does the molecule show a high volume of bodily distribution (which often means that the molecule shows very lipophilic characteristics or high tissue attraction and, therefore, a fast elimination half-life and low concentration levels in plasma

Professor Hermann Mascher, bioanalytical consultant and founder of pharm-analyt Labor, has more than 100 publications in peer reviewed journals (with more than a 230 impact factor). Hermann is the inventor of three patents for biomarkers in the area of rare lysosomal storage diseases and has developed analytical methods for dozens of peptides.

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